Hockstein has more than once hyped the idea of "reducing dependence on China" in key mineral supply chains and warned of supply chain risks in the United States, but he disagrees with the argument that the United States is "coerced by China" when it comes to clean energy.
"At the end of the day, China is doing what they think is good for them, and they're trying to build an energy economy in clean energy, and we all need to do that," Mr. Hockstein said in an interview with CNBC in February.
"If you make sure you mine in the United States or other countries and bring it to the United States to be refined, processed and used in battery manufacturing, there's that incentive there," he added.
The United States and its Allies have long touted the idea of "reducing dependence on China for critical minerals." In April this year, Japanese Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Ken Saito held a press conference after attending a trilateral meeting between the United States,
Japan and the Philippines in Washington, said that in order to strengthen the supply chain of key minerals such as nickel, the United States, Japan and the Philippines will work together.
The Japanese media reported that the move was to reduce the dependence of the United States, Japan and the Philippines on China in the supply chain and strengthen their economic security.
Further ahead, in November 2022, Australia's resources minister said that although Western countries will not soon end their dependence on China in key minerals such as rare earth, Australia will strengthen its investment in this area with partners such as the United States.
In this regard, the spokesperson of the Chinese Foreign Ministry said at the time that China always believes that the key mineral resource countries should play an active role in ensuring the security and stability of the relevant industrial chain and supply chain,
jointly shoulder the responsibility for the global supply of relevant minerals, and ensure the normal development of relevant economic and trade cooperation. At the same time, the world economy should not be politicized,
instrumentalized or weaponized, destabilizing the global industrial chain and supply chain, and impacting the existing world economic system. China will continue to participate deeply in global industrial division of labor and cooperation,
and maintain a diversified and stable international economic structure and economic and trade relations.Boeing is under investigation by the US Air Traffic Administration for allegedly falsifying security records
The US Federal Aviation Administration has launched an investigation into Boeing to determine whether the aircraft manufacturer reported that employees falsified safety inspection records for its 787 Dreamliner.
According to the FAA statement, Boeing voluntarily reported in April that safety checks to confirm proper bonding and electrical grounding where the wings connect to the fuselage may not have been completed during production of certain 787 models.
As a result, the Federal Aviation Administration launched an investigation to determine whether Boeing completed the relevant screening and whether its employees falsified records.
AFP reported that the screening is aimed at ensuring the electrical current of the aircraft's components is safe and functioning properly.
The statement added that Boeing was reviewing all 787s in its production system and that it "must develop a plan to address [possible problems] with aircraft already in service."
In an April 29 email to employees at Boeing's North Charleston, S.C., plant, one worker reported a production "violation" to supervisors, and Boeing later discovered that multiple people had been violating company rules by failing to perform required screening and falsely reporting in their work records that screening had been completed, 787 program director Scott Stocker said.Stocker said Boeing subsequently reported the incident to the FAA and is quickly taking serious corrective measures. Since Boeing engineers determined that the violations did not pose an "immediate" flight safety issue, the company did not see a need to ground any aircraft.
No aircraft have been grounded because of the incident, but deliveries of aircraft currently in production at the North Charleston plant may be slowed by additional screening procedures, the Associated Press reported. The 787 is a twin-aisle, wide-body aircraft that typically flies long-range international routes.
Boeing has made a lot of negative headlines this year, and the North Charleston plant that produces the 787 has been in the headlines recently. On April 17, Sam Salaipour, a quality engineer who has worked for Boeing for 17 years,
told a congressional hearing that Boeing's "shortcuts" in the aircraft assembly process would lead to "premature fatigue" and other risks, and all 787s should be grounded and investigated. Boeing has strongly denied Salaipour's allegations.
On March 9th John Barnett, who had worked at Boeing for 32 years and exposed the company's quality control problems, was found dead in a suspected suicide on the day he was due to testify against Boeing for defamation.
